A report from Minnesota's legislative auditor shows Minnesota's
welfare rolls are shrinking, but the remaining cases tend to be the hardest to
solve. With a federal five-year limit on welfare benefits approaching, the study
recommends intensified efforts to reach all needy families and tougher sanctions
for those that don't comply.

THE LEGISLATIVE AUDITOR'S REPORT
shows Minnesota's welfare caseload
has dropped by nearly 40 percent since 1994. That's slightly less than the
national average reduction of 50 percent. Nonetheless, fewer cases mean more
dollars to go around, and in this case, the report found $164 million in
unused federal funds due to the drop in welfare recipients. The auditor's report
recommends tapping into the surplus to reach chronic cases left behind on the
rolls - and soon. Joel Alter prepared the report for the auditor's office. He
says if the money isn't spent, the federal government could reclaim it.

Alter: This is a unique opportunity. I think we need to be careful about
spending that money. But at the same time, if we don't spend this money or a
large portion of it, again, we could lose it. And so we think that we should be
looking at prudent, short-term alternatives for spending that might reduce
dependency.

Welfare Caseloads in the
Region

State

1994

1999

Change

Wisconsin

78,507

23,251

-70%

Michigan

225,671

90.541

-60%

Kansas

30,247

12,799

-58%

S. Dakota

7,027

3,062

-56%

Illinois

238,967

114,686

-52%

Indiana

74,169

37,156

-50%

N. Dakota

6,002

3,085

-49%

Missouri

91,598

48,351

-47%

Iowa

39,623

21,270

-46%

Minnesota

65,621

40,013

-39%

Nebraska

16,145

10,799

-33%

U.S. Total

5,053,000

2,536,000

-50%

A report from the state Department of Human Resources issued earlier
this week makes a similar recommendation. But not everyone is anxious to spend
money just because it's in hand. Republican Representative Fran Bradley of
Rochester chairs the Health and Human Services Policy Committee. He says he'd
support limited, specific interventions but is wary of any broad expansion of
services, which he says could attract the hard-to-employ from other states to
Minnesota.

Bradley: When, overall, 25 percent of the welfare recipients are recent comings to Minnesota, the facts say that upwards of 40 percent in Hennepin County and
25 percent statewide are new to the state. I still believe that we have a very
strong magnetism in Minnesota.

Lourey:
Every single state believes that people are coming into their state
because of their welfare benefits.

Lourey: Each state has benefits in a certain area that are richer than another
state's benefit. So it's really hard to tell. I don't think that we should look
at that. I think we should look at what it is we want to do with
Minnesota citizens and continue that work.

Lourey welcomes the opportunity to expand support services to welfare
recipients, and even beyond: to the so-called working poor who don't quite
qualify for cash assistance. However, Lourey is slightly cautious about another
recommendation from the legislative auditor. The report agrees with a DHS
proposal to stiffen penalties for welfare recipients who don't comply with the
program's work and job search requirements. Currently, case workers can impose a
30 percent benefits reduction in cases of people who aren't doing enough to find
work. But Alter says the penalty doesn't motivate everyone.

Alter: When we began talking with providers and county officials, they expressed
a considerable amount of frustration with non-compliant clients. They didn't
think that the current sanction created a very strong incentive for compliance;
they were frustrated by the amount of time the spent on those clients. And when
we surveyed providers and counties statewide, we did find a fair amount of
sentiment for increased sanctions.

Both reports recommend stiffer penalties for welfare recipients who
consistently fall short of the job requirements. Representative Bradley endorses
the suggestion. He says lawmakers are already drafting legislation authorizing,
in some cases, a complete end to cash assistance.